A man stands at the site of an Israeli air strike on a building in the Jebaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. / Hatem Moussa, AP

by Naser Najjar, Special for USA TODAY

by Naser Najjar, Special for USA TODAY

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -The Israeli military widened its range of targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to include the media operations of the Palestinian territory's Hamas rulers, sending its aircraft to attack two buildings used by both Hamas and foreign media outlets.

The fresh wave of strikes come a day after Israel hammered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to take out rocket launchers that have enough range to strike cities that have never seen missiles from the Palestinian territory.

So far, the exchange of rocket attacks and airstrikes have killed 49 Palestinians and wounded more than 400. Three Israelis have been killed and more than 50 wounded.

The rocket attacks from Gaza largely ceased late Saturday in the face of the Israeli air assault. Israeli Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon told Army Radio on Sunday that Israel has to be prepared to widen the operation if militants don't back down.

Meanwhile, thousands of Israeli troops waited on the border in case an order came to invade. Israeli's government has authorized mobilizing up to 75,000 reservists and positioned tanks and armored vehicles on the border. At least 16,000 reservists had been called to duty and more were awaiting orders should the Palestinian rockets resume.

In Cairo, leaders of Hamas, Qatar and Turkey were in talks with Egyptian officials to see whether Hamas would agree to a stop in its rocket attacks that sparked the Israeli assault, Egypt news website Ahram Online reported.

"There are discussions about the ways to bring a cease-fire soon, but there are no guarantees," said Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who hosted the meeting. Speaking at a news conference, Morsi said he was working with Turkey, Arab countries, the U.S., Russia and western European countries to halt the fighting.

According to the website of Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Hamas demanded a lifting of the Gaza blockade and guarantees of an end of targeted killings in Gaza in exchange for halting its rocket fire, the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine al-Youm website reported Saturday.

Israel began its air assault Wednesday after firing a missile into the car of a Hamas military commander, killing him. The blockade refers to Israel and Egypt's policing of the Gaza border.

"We have an interest in not escalating the situation with our Israeli neighbor," said Mohamed El Mekkawi, a member of the Egypt foreign relations committee of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. "We want them to calm the situation and not escalate the situation because it will create instability in all of the region -- for Egyptians, Israelis, for all Arab countries."

The White House said President Obama was in touch with the Egyptian and Turkish leaders, and had reiterated that Israel had the right to defend itself.

Israel said the attacks are an attempt to halt an unprecedented barrage of rocket strikes from Palestinian terrorists, who are targeting neighborhoods and residential buildings. Some Hamas strikes landed near the holy city of Jerusalem and the cosmopolitan city of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean.

Many here were well aware that the Israeli strike was preceded by months of rocket attacks by Hamas, an Islamist group designated a terror organization by the USA and the European Union. But they were still defiant and bitter about Israel's retaliation.

"The Israelis have conquered our country and kicked us out of it, and now they are killing women and children," said Mohammed Miqdad, a university student sitting among some classmates and neighbors on a street corner in the Tal Al Hawa neighborhood.

Hamas supporters believe that the entirety of Israel should be a nation for Palestinians, and the group's stated goal is to destroy the Jewish state.

Tal Al Hawa was one of the most damaged neighbors in the Gaza Strip during the three-week military offensive by Israel, Operation Cast Lead, which began in December 2008, also in response to a barrage of rockets fired at Israeli homes.

"It's our right to defend ourselves," Miqdad added, turning the dial on his radio to various local news channels. "This is the first time the Palestinian rockets have reached the Israeli capital and Jerusalem, something considered really big."

But some in Gaza worried how long this air war would go on and the impact on their lives. The territory already has more than 40% unemployment, and the virtual shutdown of government and business has ground the economy to a halt.

Ez AL Dean Al Khalot, 24, a college graduate who lives in the beach area in the western part of Gaza City, says the constant explosions nearby have him worried about his family's safety, and how he will provide for them.

"We barely get through the day, since my income is little and I am the only breadwinner in the family (of six)," said Ez Al Den said. "I've just been sitting here waiting and hoping that this nightmare will be over soon so that I can return back to my work again."

Palestinian terrorists have unleashed about 500 rockets against Israel, including new, longer-range weapons turned for the first time this week against Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv heartland. Following those attacks, the military deployed an Iron Dome rocket defense battery in central Israel on Saturday.

The system has blown up about a third of the rockets, the Defense Ministry said.

Israel had been incrementally expanding its operation beyond military targets but before dawn on Saturday ramped that up dramatically, hitting Hamas symbols of power. The Israeli military said more than 800 targets have been struck since the operation began.

Air attacks knocked out five electricity transformers, cutting off power to more than 400,000 people in southern Gaza, according to the Gaza electricity distribution company. People switched on backup generators for limited electrical supplies.

In southern Gaza, aircraft went after underground tunnels militants use to smuggle weapons and other contraband from Egypt, residents reported.

Israel has said it is striking military targets and blames Hamas for the civilian deaths for using people and residential buildings as cover for its missile launchers. Hamas has said it is intentionally targeting Israelis everywhere in the country, boasting of its ability to strike from longer ranges.

Meanwhile, some Arab states have lined up to support Hamas. A high-level Tunisian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem, visited Gaza on Saturday. "Israel has to understand that there is an international law and it has to respect the international law to stop the aggression against the Palestinian people," Abdessalem said.